


night and day

by Jasandmonty



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/F, Hero Raphael and Simon, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Minor Violence, Modern Era, Rivalry, Tech Expert Alec and Magnus, Villains
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-07-11 00:32:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7016254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jasandmonty/pseuds/Jasandmonty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Simon knew that Nocturnal didn’t like him. He’d known that forever based on assumption. If he’d liked him, Simon always thought, he would’ve reached out to him. Saving the city wasn’t a one person job, and it would be astronomically better to have a partner. </p><p>But now Simon understood. Raphael didn’t want his help because he didn’t consider Simon as a superhero. He didn’t think Simon was saving anyone."</p><p> </p><p>or, the one where Simon and Raphael are unofficial rival heroes in the same city who definitely don't agree on most things. they both have their reasons to fight crime and eventually those reasons start to force them to work together. no one is thrilled about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_“The crusader was seen climbing a ten story fire escape early Friday morning. Some question the motives of the hero, who seems to target thieves and petty criminals in downtown areas. But no matter what the cause, New York is lucky to have a selfless fighter like Corona--”_

“Bullshit.” Raphael hissed, pressing the remote with enough force to chip his nail. The power-suited lady on Magnus’ flat screen faded into black and Raphael flung the remote against the floor with a crack. 

“Easy.” Magnus reprimanded, scooping up the remote as he crossed the living room with a messy bowl of nachos that Raphael probably shouldn’t eat but definitely was going to anyways. “No need to break my stuff just because you’re jealous of the other vigilante.” 

“But to the rest of the city, he isn’t a vigilante. He gets called hero and selfless. It’s because he runs around my neighborhoods and takes down people that he deems evil. It’s gross, a rich city kid taking it upon himself to arrest every single person who steals some bread to feed their kids.” Raphael spit, taking a handful of nachos because he was angry enough to eat five layers of cheese. 

“Isn’t that exactly what you’re doing?” Magnus asked. 

They’d had this conversation hundreds of times. Every time Raphael saw any mention of Corona on the news he went on a tangent, which he was completely justified in doing thank you, and Magnus argued back with lots of smirking and teasing. At this point Raphael wasn’t sure what Magnus’ actual stance on Corona was. He just couldn’t sleep at night unless he disagreed with Raphael. 

“No.” Raphael huffed. “I’m going after people that are kidnapping kids and abusing women. He’s arresting people who rob convenience stores.” 

“So if you saw someone robbing a convenience store you’d just keep walking?” 

“I don’t put on the mask to save Walgreens.” 

Magnus chuckled at that and Raphael felt an annoying surge of pride that he made Magnus laugh, as he always did. Magnus polished off the rest of the nachos at a disgustingly fast rate and abandoned the empty bowl to move for his work desk. 

“You know, Corona is rather well known for how often his technology fails.” Magnus noted as he clicked on a new device and the familiar mechanical whirring noises filled the room. “Luckily you don’t have to deal with such an embarrassing setback.” 

“What does that do?” Raphael murmured, peeking over the back of the couch to look at the red and black device in Magnus’ hand. It had the signature shimmer of a new invention with the flashy paint jobs that Magnus specialized in. Raphael couldn’t help but feel a spike of excitement. He loved getting new tech. It gave him something new to try out when he left at nightfall. 

“Hearing advancement.” Magnus beamed proudly. “You can get rid of your old, outdated earpiece now.” 

“You just made it a month ago.” 

“This update not only improves the clarity of my voice in your head but also lets you hear much more from your enemy. Footfalls, gun clicks, heartbeats.”

“Heartbeats?” Raphael murmured in awe. “Like I’m a vampire or something? Why do I need to hear heartbeats?” 

“When you’re alone in a dark alley and you hear a heartbeat then you’ll realize that you aren’t alone.” Magnus proposed with a satisfied smirk. “And you’ll hear the moment it stops.” 

Magnus always got a malicious kind of glee out of Raphael kicking asses. The first time Raphael killed someone, he and Magnus had both eaten dinner quietly and they stayed in subdued tenseness for three days after. 

The second time Raphael killed someone, it had been the same person who jumped their friend Catarina and tried to assault her. Raphael did not feel bad after that one bled. 

“Nice.” Raphael murmured nonchalantly, popping the piece in his ear. He waited.

Magnus’ heartbeat was slow and steady and chilling to hear. It felt like Raphael had hacked into human biology, like he was hearing secrets that he wasn’t meant to hear. There was such clarity that Raphael wasn’t sure whether to be impressed by Magnus or scared of him. 

Goosebumps raised on his arms and he pulled the piece out, shuddering. Magnus smirked. 

“Yeah, I felt that way when I tried it.” Magnus shrugged, dropping the piece back on his work desk. “But you’ll get use to it. And you’ll have my lovely voice to encourage you on your dangerous and intrepid journeys each night.” 

“Great.” Raphael muttered. “Must be what drives me to kill.” 

Magnus had always built things. When he was eleven and Raphael was seven, Magnus was always taking apart Raphael’s toys and rearranging plastic pieces. It was blissful convenience that the one person Raphael felt comfortable confiding in about becoming the dark shadow that fought crime in New York also was eager to supply him with life-saving technology. 

Not that Raphael would ever let Magnus know that his tech was life-saving. His ego was already enormous from hearing the newscasters begrudgingly admit that though Nocturnal was a no-good vigilante punk, he still had amazing technology.

“Sunset.” Magnus murmured, standing just so the rays of the sinking sun outlined him in a chilling silhouette. Raphael was pretty sure that Magnus sometimes wished he were a supervillain. “You better be going. The bike is on the balcony, all ready.” 

“You’re sure the tank is full?” Raphael asked as he zipped on his suit. The familiar closeness of the black and grey material settled the nerves that he always had right before leaving for the night. He could feel all his tech beginning to hum to life within the silver stitches along the fabric, could feel the electricity that practically hummed beneath his own skin. “Not like last time, right?”

“How could you bring that up again?” Magnus whined, and it echoed in Raphael’s active earpiece. 

“I love reminding you.” Raphael deadpanned, crossing the dimming apartment to step out onto the balcony. 

The city was already twinkling with its late night energy. Somewhere in the city, someone was stealing. Someone was hurting someone. Someone was killing someone. 

And Corona was just going to bed. 

“Be safe.” Magnus’s voice said in Raphael’s ear like it did every night as Raphael swung his leg around his bike. It roared to life as the gear in his suit linked up with the bike, drowning out the sounds of police sirens and cars in the maze of streets below. “I’m with you.” 

“You better be,” Raphael grinned inside his helmet as he revved the bike, “sidekick.” 

Magnus’ groan was overshadowed by Raphael’s bike beginning to accelerate and the balcony walls beginning to shift. The wind pushed Raphael forward and it chilled him through his suit as the lights of the city grew closer and he felt his heart beginning to race the way it always did. The front wheel of his bike shot toward the edge of the balcony and it dipped downwards and right when the back tire pushed off into the night sky, he wasn’t Raphael anymore. 

He was Nocturnal. 

///

“I did everything I could, Simon.” 

This did not sound encouraging. Simon hated being in the precinct anyways, because aside from the smell of burnt coffee and pressed suits, no one ever listened to him. And even though Luke’s office was as safe a place as any, he couldn’t help but feel the need to guard his backpack so a nosy cop wouldn’t open it and see the familiar orange and red fabric of his suit. 

“You promised, Luke.” He insisted, leaning forward in his seat to give Luke a proper glare. “This is the third time. One of these days I’ll just stop catching your criminals for you, then you’ll all wish you’d heeded my wishes.” 

“Reminds me of when you were seven and you threatened to never let Clary play with your action figures again if she didn’t let you be Spider-Man.” Luke said without even looking up from his paperwork. “Which you never actually did, by the way. Clary was always Spider-Man.” 

“How the tables have turned.” Simon smirked. 

“Anyways, it’s not up to me.” Luke reminded him. “It’s up to Vargas. If she deems a criminal dangerous enough, she gets to send them upstate. She’s in charge and frankly, I think it’s for a good reason. She knows what she’s doing, Simon.” 

“So the last three people I caught all happen to be violent and dangerous?” Simon demanded. “How is that possible? Luke no offence but cops suck--” 

“Simon.” Luke chose to use his soothing, meditative voice this time because both he and Simon knew that it came right before the yelling voice. “Look, I’ll let you give your testimony about what you saw but that’s all I can do. My hands are tied.” 

“I’m tired of this city locking every single prisoner we have away in that disgusting prison. Have you ever been down there, Luke? It’s horrible.” 

“Some would say that’s what they deserve.” Luke replied in a tone that made it clear how finished he was with this conversation. He stood, so Simon followed. Except the sharp pain in Simon’s ankle that he was hoping would be gone after a few minutes of sitting definitely wasn’t gone, so he sunk back down with an audible wince. 

“Let me see that.” Luke said, kneeling to get a better look at the purplish bruise around Simon’s swollen ankle. 

“I’m not very good at sticking landings.” Simon said lightly. “Also those shoes that were supposed to make jumping easier malfunctioned and I rolled my ankle.”

“I love my darling step-daughter,” Luke said, “but just because Clary is the only other person who knows about your hobby doesn’t mean she should be doing your tech.” 

“But she did such a good job on suit design.” Simon said weakly. He knew that Luke was right, though. He had cuts and bruises all over from when new tech experiments had short-circuited or lost power during his fights. He watched Nocturnal on the news every night with envy, wondering who made his tech. Maybe he even made it himself, in which case Simon should really just give up trying anyways. “I need someone who can help me with this.” 

“Or,” Luke offered, “you can stop with this.” 

“You know I can’t do that.” Simon mumbled as he collected his precious backpack and limped out the door. “I have to do what I set out to do. And besides, if I stop I’ll only get to visit this fine precinct on school field trips. 

Luke scoffed. “As if you actually go to school.” 

Simon went home and slept for two hours with a heating pad over his ankle and his suit already on. By the time his alarm went off, he was already out of bed and jumping out the window. 

He went his usual route, jumping from fire escapes to building tops and checking every street, every alley, every crosswalk. It was a common misconception that crime only happened at night under the veil of darkness. It especially didn’t make sense in New York City, where the night was just as busy and illuminated as the day. 

That Nocturnal guy clearly had nighttime covered. Simon didn’t want to leave the entire other half of the day exposed as a clear window for criminals. 

The man trying to steal a car in the backlot of a business tower clearly thought he was being clever. Or maybe he was just busy at night. 

Simon waited on the fire escape for a few minutes, leaning back against the cold metal bars to relax while the man did whatever he had to do to get the driver side door open. The fire escape rattled above him, and Simon sat up immediately, alertness shoving out any exhaustion. He could’ve sworn he heard someone drop down onto the stairs, but light shone through the cracks all the way to the top of the twenty story building and there wasn’t a person in sight. The curiosity almost made him miss the thief finally managing to pry the car door open. When he did, Simon took a running leap and landed on the hood. 

“Hey.” He smiled at the thief, hoping the gesture got across even though it was hidden by the mask. “Hope I didn’t dent your new car.” 

“Christ.” The man muttered, and he really only seemed slightly annoyed by this inconvenience. “I don’t need this right now, kid.”

“Look, Mr. Car Thief, I’m a big enough person to call you by your name. You should call me by mine.” 

The man looked confused. “I don’t know your name.” 

Simon groaned. All the work he did and he still didn’t have brand-name reputation. Was he doing something wrong? Maybe he was supposed to call the media himself. Maybe that’s what the Avengers had to do. 

His train of thought was interrupted when the man tried to swing a blade at him. Simon ducked back, smirking when the man blinked disbelievingly. 

“Yeah I got one of those too, man.” Simon laughed, reaching to his back. He had a new holster that strapped across his back and dispensed knives automatically whenever he needed it. Or it was supposed to. Now was whenever he needed it, though, and there definitely wasn’t a knife in his hand. 

“No no no,” Simon hissed. “Not now are you kidding me? Fuck--” 

The man swung. He had a new confidence now and, okay, this probably wasn’t a great way to spread the image of an intimidating superhero all over the city. Simon abandoned the broken holster and decided to use his fists instead, because that usually worked. 

They struggled for a while, Simon getting just as many punches to his own jaw as he was giving out. He got his arm around the man’s neck and was satisfied to choke-hold him until he passed out, until the thief managed to smash one of the windows with the heel of his boot. He brandished a shard of glass in his cut-up hand, holding it to Simon’s face. 

“Let go.” He growled, pinning Simon to the dented roof of the car with a hand to his neck. He held the glass up to Simon’s cheek, letting it cut him just enough for Simon to wince when he felt blood trickle down his face. “Fucking punk. You should stay out of adult business, you know that? Leave the crime fighting to people who know what they’re--” 

Before he could finish his speech, something whistled through the air and sunk into the man’s shoulder. He was pushed off Simon immediately, landing on the ground below the car with a thump. 

Simon gasped for air, feeling at the cut on his cheek and feeling only slightly dizzy when his fingers came away red. He hated blood. 

“I didn’t kill him, don’t worry.” A voice called from behind. Simon turned and squinted against the rising sun to see someone with a tall, lanky frame drop down from the fire escape. The stranger was covered with a blue hoodie, their face concealed by hastily applied greasepaint. 

“God.” Simon moaned. “Another superhero? We’ve got night and day covered, dude, you can take lunch time if you want? Or better yet, go to another city--” 

“You’re welcome.” The person interrupted. They sounded annoyed. “You were about to die just then, you know. You probably know. You’ve almost died like a million times because your tech sucks.” 

Simon wanted to be indignant and argue this, but it wouldn’t do much good when the stranger just saw him almost pass out from being choked by a lowly car thief. 

He pushed his hood down and revealed a mop of tangled black hair and bright blue eyes that matched the hoodie. He had his bow in his hands and a quiver full of arrows strapped to his back. The arrows didn’t look normal, actually, because they were bulkier than normal arrows should be and they blinked certain colors. 

“I know my tech sucks, okay?” Simon settled to just agree. “It’s not easy.” 

“It is for me.” The stranger replied immediately. “I have a degree in technological development. I’ve been building things since I was four years old. I work for the Circle Institute in developing new software.” 

His eyes were gleaming with eagerness. Something told Simon that this stranger hadn’t dropped in and saved him just to brag about his job.

“What are you saying?” Simon asked. 

“I’ll be your tech coordinator.” He insisted, stepping forward. “I see you on the news every night and I--I have three younger siblings. I want them to live in a city where they don’t have to carry weapons with them to go to school, especially my sister. But I can’t risk getting killed like you do. I have to take care of them. But I want to help you and this is how I can help you.” 

Simon paused to consider this. “What about Nocturnal? Why not help him?” 

The stranger rolled his eyes. “He already has an amazing tech coordinator. The guy is a god around Circle, everyone’s amazed by Nocturnal’s tech.” 

Simon couldn’t help but be jealous of this. It made sense to hire this person, who saved his life and gave him a legitimate reason for wanting to help. It would also mean less bruises and cuts and fractured bones to hide from his mother. 

Police sirens drowned out his thoughts and he turned to see cop cars already rushing toward them. Simon’s eyes widened. “How’d they know?” 

The stranger smirked. “The arrows. When they make deep enough contact they assess the injury and call for medical help. And once everyone associates them with you, they’ll prove to the cops and the city how good you are at your job.” 

Simon liked that. 

“We should go.” He said, running ahead and climbing up the fire escape. His new friend followed, lagging behind just slightly to admire the sight of all the police swarming in to take custody of a bad guy. It was rewarding and Simon couldn’t blame him, but they needed to go.

“Hey. Tech man.” Simon called down. “Hurry.” 

“My name is Alec, actually.” 

“I’m Corona.”

“I know that.” Alec called up, pulling himself to the next rung behind Simon. Simon grinned. 

“Perfect. You’re hired.”


	2. Chapter 2

“You can barely walk in a straight line.” Magnus muttered, grabbing hold of Raphael’s shoulder and yanking him off his zig-zagging course that was headed straight off the sidewalk and into traffic. “You can’t be Nocturnal if you’re run over by a taxi.” 

“I’ve been stabbed like eight times and shot twice.” Raphael grumbled. “A taxi wouldn’t even make me miss a night.” 

“You should consider missing a night, seriously. You’re exhausted.” Magnus suggested, and even though Raphael probably knew it wasn’t possible, the very mention of a break made his face fill with longing. 

He’d been spending too much time as Nocturnal. Even if he wasn’t out fighting, he was constantly at Magnus’ loft training or researching or talking about new tech that he needed. Normally it wasn’t as urgent. Normally he could satisfy himself with the couple of people he caught. But there was someone new out in the city, close to his neighborhood. Some guy who none of the cops could find who was taking kids right out of their front yards. 

Magnus could see the determination in him. Raphael couldn’t let that keep happening. 

“Raph is home!” A voice shrieked the moment they stepped through the front door. He was bombarded by a sprinting eight year old in seconds, his little brother wrapping around his legs. 

“Hey Carlos.” Raphael murmured, dropping his backpack with a thud. He picked up his brother, who was almost getting too old for that, and kissed his mop of curls. The thundering of feet upstairs meant that the others were running down to meet him. And of course Raphael loved his little brothers, but Magnus didn’t know if Raphael could handle an hour of noise and talking over each other and hyperactivity when he looked like he was about to fall asleep standing up. 

Magnus was more than just his tech coordinator. Magnus could understand what he was thinking by just taking one glance at his face. He reached over and took Carlos from Raphael’s arms, gesturing to Raphael’s room down the hall with a nod of his head. 

“Go to sleep. I’ll explain.” 

Raphael mumbled a thank you and disappeared into his bedroom just as the wave of kids stampeded down the stairs. 

“Where’d he go?” Emanuel, the oldest of them at the age of thirteen, asked Magnus as the others filtered into the living room and kitchen to search for their big brother. 

“He’s tired from work, kiddo.” Magnus told him. The disappointment on his small face was too heartbreaking for Magnus to look at. He turned and led the kid into the kitchen where the scent of spices and the hiss of simmering food originated from. 

Guadalupe Santiago was Magnus’ personal hero. Along with being a single mother with her own army of boys, she was also the kindest person on the planet. Despite having a full house she was always picking up strays, taking care of kids who came home from school with her sons who looked too hungry or too lonely or too anything. 

After Magnus had been kicked out of his only place of residence, owned by his evil ex-girlfriend who wanted nothing more than to sleep with him and have him work three jobs to buy her things that she could already afford herself, he’d decided to live in the back of the old car that had been parked in the parking lot of a 7-11 for forever. 

Raphael had found out about it alarmingly quickly (Magnus still wasn’t sure how) and reported it to his mother immediately. Guadalupe had spared some of the money that she worked nonstop to earn to help Magnus pay a lease on his first apartment. 

It had been four years since it happened, and Magnus was certain that that had saved his life. He’d upgraded apartments by now and had a secure job, which he used to help supply the Santiagos with whatever they needed. 

Her generosity was part of the reason Raphael had never told her about his alter ego. 

“She’d probably try to help,” He’d explained to Magnus the first and only time he’d asked. “I don’t want her thinking she needs to buy knives for me.”

“Magnus.” She smiled at him over the counter as he put Carlos on the ground. “Are you subbing in for Raphael at tonight’s dinner?” 

“Depends on if he wakes up.” Magnus shrugged. “That new night job is wearing him out.”

“I can tell.” Guadalupe replied, letting Carlos taste test a sauce that she was working on. “What is the job again? I can’t keep his work straight.” 

“Custodian at that art expo downtown.” Magnus answered confidently, because Raphael had made him memorize the fake job for this exact situation. Guadalupe nodded, turning to look at Magnus. Her face was serious. 

“He works a lot.” She said solemnly. “And I can’t always know what he’s doing. Especially now that he’s older. He could be doing anything at night.” 

Something in her tone made Magnus’ chest tighten. Did she know? There was no way she could have figured it out, they’d been so careful. Raphael’s main priority was to keep his family safe and oblivious to the whole thing. He would be devastated if they knew. 

“I know.” He said hastily, hoping to finish the conversation before it started. “I’m keeping an eye on him.” 

Guadalupe leaned across the counter and put her hand over his. “I know. I’m trusting you with him.” 

Magnus didn’t know what to say, because the atmosphere had changed and he’d never seen her like this. The kitchen was quiet and she seemed content to keep him in static silence until he spoke, her eyes steady and unwavering from his face. 

“I promise.” He said weakly. She smiled brightly.

“Then let’s get you some food.” Guadalupe chirped, turning back to her meal with new bravado. Magnus let himself move back and drop into a kitchen chair, turning away from the food.

He wasn’t hungry anymore. 

///

“I don’t know man, are you sure? It doesn’t look strong enough to support me.” 

“You weigh like, what, 80 pounds?” Alec muttered as he tugged on the protective holster that was wrapped firmly around Simon’s waist. “We developed this at Circle. Trust me, it works.” 

Simon rolled his eyes. The Circle Institute was a massive tech corporation that branched out all around the world. Their headquarters were in New York. Logically, Simon knew that they did wonderfully altruistic things like developing cures for diseases and inventing water purifiers for developing countries. But Simon went to highschool with a thousand arrogant kids who thought that an A on their report card meant they would be the leading scientist at Circle. 

He kind of hated them. He didn’t hate Alec, of course, but when he brushed off Simon’s concerns with a simple, “It’s from Circle” it was kind of annoying. 

“I just don’t really want to jump off a building unless I’m sure I won’t die.” Simon insisted. “You understand.” 

“I never thought that Corona would be such a baby.” Alec taunted. It was pretty low. 

Simon and Alec had a love-hate relationship. They’d only been working together for a week, but they basically spent all day every day together. Since they didn’t have a cool secret lair, they just met at Alec’s house and locked themselves in his room where his three nosy siblings couldn’t get in. 

Alec spent a lot of time making fun of Simon. He mocked Simon’s failed tech, his archery form, his tendency to hang around the police station even though he was a masked secret vigilante. 

But he also sometimes gave Simon compliments. They were rare and said so quietly and so fast that Simon always almost missed them, but they made him glow with pride. So he tolerated the insults.

Also, he loved not having to get twice as many beatings because now his tech actually worked. 

Alec was standing safely back from the edge of the building’s top, his hands expertly tightening the thin black wire that stretched from an adjacent building to Simon’s harness. 

The tips of Simon’s toes were on the very edge of the skyscraper. Traffic zipped on the streets that felt like they were miles below him and he felt vaguely sick, because he was never ever ever up this high, there was no need to be up this high, he was fairly certain that the little black thread wouldn’t work and he’d just plummet--

“Go!” Alec shouted and pushed him. 

The ground came up to meet Simon and he knew he was screaming but he probably shouldn’t be. It wouldn’t help his reputation to be seen screaming in fear as he swung across the city. 

Just as quickly as he had fallen, he was beginning to move back up. The wind rushed around him as he swung up, headed straight toward the next building. He desperately clutched for the edge, lifting himself up and rolling over to lay on his back. 

He still felt like he was swinging and his heart was still racing when Alec called to him from the other building. 

“I told you it would work!” He yelled. “The sun is setting soon. I’m going home!” 

Simon just yelled back a indistinguishable word, unable yet to speak coherently. Really it had been kind of fun, but it would probably be more fun if he hadn’t been pushed. 

He was too exhilarated now to go home and sleep. He still had a while before sunset and Luke had snuck him a report about some guy in the lower city who was kidnapping children. It was something to do. 

He headed into the lower city, which he had memorized a route of somewhat safe paths in. His normal route never brought him much action, though, because they were usually just convenience store robberies or purse snatchers. 

And with his new tech, Simon felt a little invincible. So he went a new way. 

He used his grappling hook a bit more, figuring if he got accustomed to it now it would spare him from Alec’s mockery tomorrow. It was actually starting to get fun, feeling the wind brush against him and push him between the apartments. He could hear people exclaim on the street below when he swung by. 

Honestly, if this Spider-Man act didn’t get him recognition he would probably just quit. 

Eventually it had gotten noticeably dark and Simon realized that he’d been swinging for almost two hours. He needed to get home before his mom worried. He dropped down to a fire escape and headed to the alley ways, figuring it would be faster. 

He was halfway home when he stumbled upon two people in one of the smaller, darker alleys. They were clearly having a confrontation, but Simon couldn’t get a clear view of either of them. He contented himself with sitting in the fire escape and listening, only deciding to intervene if it sounded like it was getting out of hand. 

There was one voice that sounded angrier than the other, which constantly interrupted. It was only when Simon heard a threat that he got alarmed. 

“I’ll kill you. _Dios,_ I can’t stand to see you still standing there.” 

“You aren’t a cop, okay? You have no proof.” 

“No proof? I saw you try, _idiota._ Do you want me to just wait until you take another kid? Until you devastate another family? Until you take one of my brothers?” The voice was shaking with anger. “No. You aren’t leaving.” 

Simon swung himself over the edge of the fire escape quickly, landing himself right between the two men. 

Except it wasn’t just a street fight. It wasn’t a citizen trying to do good. 

It was a black skin-tight suit with silver stitches that spread across it, glinting under the light of the moon. It was a silver motorbike parked a few feet away, blocking off the lip of the alley. It was a long shimmering dagger that could impale him easily and painfully. 

It was Nocturnal. 

“Move.” Nocturnal insisted. “Don’t try to be a hero.” 

“That’s my thing, man.” Simon said lightly, firmly planting his feet. “And it’s also the cops’ thing. I’ll call them, okay? No need to kill him yourself.” 

Nocturnal laughed. “The cops. Okay, why don’t you call them up and tell them that you’re in the lower city and you think you’ve caught a kidnapper. See how long it takes them to get here.” 

Simon sighed. “I think the two of us can keep him here until they come.” 

“And when they do, you think they’ll take care of it? They’ll put him in that prison upstate and he’ll get out like they all do. He’ll come back and keep doing what he’s doing.”

“So you get to kill him?” Simon demanded. “You think it might not work to do it any other way so you’ll just take his life? Just like that?” 

“He is doing terrible things to innocent kids!” 

“I know that.” Simon ground out. He was getting frustrated. It wasn’t justice to just take things into your own hands, to decide that someone should die on your own. “But you don’t get to decide how he should pay for it. That isn’t your call.” 

“You get to make the call during the day, Corona.” His alias sounded like a curse word when Nocturnal said it. “But night is my domain. You shouldn’t even--”

He trailed off, glancing over Simon’s shoulder. 

“Hey!” He shouted, making Simon whirl around to see what he was seeing. The criminal was sneaking off in the middle of their argument, trying to scale up the very fire escape that Simon had used to get down. 

He reached for his bow, notching an arrow and letting it fly. It pinned the guy by his sleeve, making him yell out in either fear or plain frustration. He scrambled to free himself, falling a few feet back to the alley. 

“Trying to get away.” Nocturnal hissed. “I already told you that wasn’t going to happen.” 

“Hey, dude, don’t--” Simon tried to pull him back, but a sharp stinging in his forearm made him flinch back. Blood glistened on Nocturnal’s blade. 

He’d cut him loose. 

Simon staggered back, watching in horror as Nocturnal ran to the man faster than light and brought his blade down. 

“No!” Simon yelled. He ran to meet him, trying in vain to pull him away. Nocturnal had sliced the man across the chest, clearly not wanting to kill him right away. He wanted him to suffer. He was kicking him in the ribs, repeatedly bringing back his foot and letting it go harder and harder each time. 

Simon needed to call the cops. He needed Luke. He wasn’t just going to watch someone’s blood pool up on the concrete while a supposed hero beat the shit out of him. It was wrong. 

Simon scrambled for his phone, and Nocturnal must have somehow sensed it. He took a brief interlude from beating the man to knock the phone from Simon’s hand with the tip of his blade, knocking it hard enough to the ground to make the screen crack diagonally. 

The blade was still pointed at Simon. 

“If you move, I’ll kill you too.” Nocturnal hissed. “You’re going to stay here. You don’t have to watch if you can’t handle it, but you aren’t going anywhere.” 

Simon was out of options. He needed to ask Alec for tech that alerted the police or something, something that would help in times like these. 

But then he remember that he already had that. It was just going to hurt. 

Simon reached for an arrow, which beeped a green light to let him know that it was active. Nocturnal must have thought that this was meant for him, because he turned back to Simon with his blade pointed again. 

“ _Dios_ , you’re exhausting.” Nocturnal growled. “I thought you were against hurting people?” 

Simon sighed. “I am.” 

He shoved the arrow into his own shoulder as quickly as he could, letting out a small cry of pain as his knees buckled. 

Nocturnal seemed frozen, looking down at Simon with parted lips and wide eyes beneath his mask. 

“What the fuck?” He gasped. “Are you _loco?_ ” 

Sirens were already audible as the arrow beeped a solid blue from where it stuck from Simon’s skin. He closed his eyes, ready to just pass out and let Luke find him. 

But what if Luke didn’t find him? He had no way of knowing if Luke would even come to the location, if he was even working. If another cop found him they might take off his mask. They might see his face. They might recognize him as the kid that always hung around Luke Garroway’s office. 

Simon staggered to his feet, leaning heavily against the brick wall. He tried to move up the fire escape, thinking he could lay up there until the cops cleared out. He was losing blood quickly, but it was his only option. 

“Where are you going?” Nocturnal called. Simon had almost forgotten he was there. “You--you’ll probably die, _idiota._ ”

“You said you wanted me to.” Simon breathed, tripping over a step and collapsing against a platform of cold metal. Blood was already dripping through the holes of the metal and he winced as he realized that Nocturnal was probably right. The wound wasn’t critical but he had no way to stop the bleeding. He’d die here in a dirty alley just like Luke and Clary had been afraid he would. 

He just hoped the guy wouldn’t die. That might make it worth it. 

“No. I said I’d kill you myself. You don’t get to do it for me.”

The fire escape rattled as Nocturnal began to climb. He stood over Simon, crouching down to look at the wound. Simon weakly tried to bat his hand away but it didn’t do much good. His vision was beginning to tunnel, the corners of Nocturnal’s image starting to fade. 

There was something that Simon had never noticed on his suit. A tiny, silver cross that was stitched in securely at the base of his collar. It matched his silver stitches that spread over his suit and it was scratched up in a way that suggested it was older than the vigilante job. 

Simon focused on it, on the way it glimmered under the moon until he closed his eyes and passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay!!!! it begins!!!!!!!!!! i want to thank you guys so much for reading, leaving kudos, and reviewing. i got so much support for chapter one and it was really encouraging so thank you so much for taking time to read and leave your thoughts <3 im officially out on summer break now (i'll be a junior in hs this year woo) so hopefully I'll be updating a lot more frequently! 
> 
> also dont forget to hmu on tumblr @kindasimonish


	3. Chapter 3

_Simon and Clary weren’t supposed to be looking in Luke’s desk._

_Her hands were working fast, trifling through files and papers and Simon was anxiously keeping watch, his teeth worrying at his lip. There was no one in sight down the hall, but adults had long legs that moved fast and they could come out of nowhere. If anyone saw them looking they’d probably arrest them. They were cops. They could do that._

_Clary finally slapped a file to the top of Luke’s desk and opened it, her green eyes wide and shimmering with unshed tears._

_It was exactly what she’d been looking for. A picture of her dad, lying in the morgue with a clean white surface behind his cold body. Simon wanted to look away, but Clary wasn’t. If she could look at pictures of her dead dad, so could he._

_“Look at that, Simon.” She whispered, tapping a spot on the third picture. It showed her father’s back, where just between his shoulder blades there was an ugly splotch of red. She sifted through the pictures until she found a close-up. She shuddered, shoving it into Simon’s hands. “What is it?”_

_Simon swallowed. “It’s a C. Carved in with a knife.”_

_The trial was short. It was pretty clear, Luke told them, that the guy had done it. The guy with a beard and lots of tears in his eyes, who had two kids and begged to see them again before the police dragged him out of the courtroom. That guy had done it. Clearly._

_Simon sat with his tie loosened at the kitchen table, moving his dinner around with his fork. His dad clapped him on the back once, moving to sit across from him._

_“What’s wrong, bud?”_

_“How do they know it was really him?” Simon asked. “Who killed Clary’s dad? Nobody saw it happen.”_

_There was a clatter from the kitchen. Rebecca was staring, his mom looked irate. She gave Simon’s dad an imploring look, her eyes wide. His dad shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. He finally smiled at Simon._

_“It’s the justice system, Simon. It’s not just one person who gets to decide if someone has to pay for their actions.”_

_“You believe in the justice system, Dad?”_

_“I do.” He nodded. “You should too.”_

_He ducked under the yellow police tape, running fast enough so that no one could catch him. When he was younger he always thought that the longer your legs were, the faster you ran. It would do him some good now if it were true, as he was longer and lankier and faster._

_No one stopped him as he ran right up to the scene, dodging around cops and paramedics and detectives._

_No one stopped him until Luke, that is._

_“Let go of me!” Simon yelled. “I need to see him!”_

_“I can’t let you, Simon.”_

_He had his arms around Simon and he was much stronger than him, so Simon did what they always did in movies. He bit the base of Luke’s hand, taking advantage of his surprise and squirming out of his grip._

_He ran fast enough to reach the body, which had been haphazardly covered with a bag that they hadn’t even bothered to put him in. He ripped it off, a small sob coming from deep within him._

_His dad just looked like he was sleeping. He looked like he did when Simon came home late from Clary’s and his dad was asleep in his chair, the TV still playing the Game Show Network. The only difference now was the bit of blood that went from his pale lips down his chin._

_Simon moved fast, heaving his dad over just enough to see his back. Simon moved his shirt up and almost felt like throwing up when he saw it right between his shoulder blades._

_It was a C. Carved in with a knife._

 

Simon woke up with tears in his eyes.   
He sighed, reaching up to rub at his face. Simon didn’t have normal dreams. They weren’t ever fun or imaginative, nothing cool like being in a field with millions of dragonflies or something beautiful and calm. They were always memories, for one thing, and they were all memories that sucked.

Things that he remembered enough during that day anyways. He didn’t need to see them while he was asleep.

Simon laid there, rubbing at his eyes for almost two minutes before he realized what was wrong. 

He’d never taken his mask off last night, but it wasn’t on now. He couldn’t remember doing his routine of climbing in through the window, yanking his suit off, and stowing it away in his closet so his mother wouldn’t find it. 

And come to think of it, he couldn’t even remember going home last night.

Simon pulled himself up and looked around, noticing that the room he was in was definitely someone’s personal bedroom. The bed was enormous and the blankets were bright red, matching the long billowing curtains on a large bay window across the room. Simon shuffled out of bed and got a closer view. 

If he weren’t in a possible hostage situation, he’d appreciate the nice glimpse of the city. Whoever lived here was richer than he was.

He thought back to last night, desperately trying to piece together the little fragments of memory that were left behind. He remembered the confrontation with Nocturnal, the burning pain of shoving an arrow into his shoulder. He remembered thinking about Luke coming to get him. 

But that was all. This wasn’t Luke’s house, that much was clear. Luke’s bedroom didn’t have a neon sign that read “MAGIC” in hot pink. 

Simon marched towards the door and groaned when he discovered that he was locked inside. He raised his arm to pound on the door but a piercing, shooting pain prohibited it.

“God _fucking--”_ He hissed, cradling his bandaged shoulder. 

“Now now.” A voice said, and Simon looked up to see a tall Asian man with a smirk on his face that could draw blood standing in the open doorway. “No need to panic. I’m not going to hurt you, alright? In fact, I did the opposite by stitching up your shoulder so stop moving it so much.” 

“Who are you?” Simon demanded. “Where am I? Where’s my mask? You had no right to take that off, you don’t deserve to know my identity.” 

The man rolled his eyes. 

“It was restricting your breathing, dear, I had to take it off.” He sounded impatient, but not condescending or rude. Like he wanted to make it clear to Simon that he was helping him but he didn’t have enough time for it. “But don’t worry, I didn’t sell pictures of Corona’s true identity to the news or anything.” 

“I don’t think you need to, by the looks of it.” Simon muttered, focusing again on the lavish decor. “Who are you?” 

The man looked away. Clary was always telling Simon about the struggle that she, as an artist, faced with finding people that she wanted to sketch. She was always looking for what she called “new faces” and Simon never understood what that would look like until now. Truly, this guy was unlike anyone that Simon had ever seen. He found himself staring, noticing a new feature to fixate on every few seconds. 

“I can’t tell you my name.” He decided finally. “I mean it’s hardly fair. I don’t get to know yours.” 

Simon wanted to argue, but he really didn’t know what to say. The guy had a point. If he was someone important, like a super villain or something, then he wouldn’t want to give away his identity either. 

“Wait.” Simon gasped. “Are you Nocturnal?” 

The man scoffed. He almost looked offended. That made no sense to Simon because, based on what he’d seen last night, Nocturnal was kind of badass. And also horrible, really. Simon recalled every single second in perfect clarity. He wondered if the guy escaped. If he’d lived. 

A new wave of panic rose in Simon’s chest. He needed to leave. 

“I-I’m a minor, you know. You can’t keep me here, it’s kidnapping. And I’m pretty tight with a few of the cops, as you can probably imagine. Well, not as Corona, obviously. Some of them don’t really appreciate me. But if I called and said that some rich guy was holding me hostage in a tacky bedroom, they wouldn’t know that I’m Corona and--” 

“Dios. Enough.” 

Simon had never seen his face without a mask, but the second he glanced at the boy in the door, he knew that this was Nocturnal. He wasn’t even sure how he was so sure of it. It could’ve been the countless hours of staying up late and watching the news, seeing if a mention of the other hero came up. Or the time spent roaming internet message boards to see theories about him. The occasional passing thought that maybe if they could meet somehow, talk once, Simon wouldn’t feel like it was him against the entire Earth.

The hours upon hours of obsessing over whose face the black mask was covering somehow led Simon to know that it was this boy in front of him. 

And he looked like he was experiencing a similar revelation. Or, hey, he could’ve just taken off Simon’s mask. Which was something they needed to talk about. 

“Alright, let’s all take a breath.” The first man said with a calm smile in Nocturnal’s direction. “You’ve already seen each other’s faces. Neither of you is going to rat out the other, because it’d blow up both your secrets. So, let’s do names.” 

Simon swallowed. It shouldn’t be hard. He was great at introducing himself, at meeting new people and letting them know what his hobbies were. This was the first time, however, that his name was affiliated with the hobby of fighting crime. 

“Raphael.” Nocturnal said finally, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “I’m Raphael.” 

“Simon Lewis.” He said hoarsely. He wasn’t sure how to feel. 

“Good.” The man beamed proudly at them. “Simon, I’m Magnus. I’m Raphael’s partner.” 

Raphael shrugged and made a noncommittal noise. “He helps.”

Magnus didn’t seem bothered. “Like I said, we wouldn’t have taken off your mask if you weren’t injured. But--”

“If you didn’t want us to take it off, you shouldn’t have stabbed yourself in the shoulder.” Raphael snapped. “Don’t make us into the villains. It’s because of you that that asshole got away.” 

“Got away?” A lump formed in Simon’s throat. How could he have gotten away? The cops had only been a few blocks away and Raphael had been right there to stop him from running. “How?”

“You should know.” Raphael scoffed. “You’re the one that just handed him over to the cops. “Which, by the way, qualifies as letting him get away. He’ll go to that prison and get free a month later. But really, congratulations on keeping the city’s children safe for the rest of October.”

Simon knew that Nocturnal didn’t like him. He’d known that forever based on assumption. If he’d liked him, Simon always thought, he would’ve reached out to him. Saving the city wasn’t a one person job, and it would be astronomically better to have a partner. 

But now Simon understood. Raphael didn’t want his help because he didn’t consider Simon as a superhero. He didn’t think Simon was saving anyone. 

He hated Simon. 

“So what, then? The entire justice system boils down to you, a teenager and a rich twenty-something, deciding who’s guilty and who’s innocent? Who lives and who dies? What happens if you’re wrong? If you kill the wrong person.” 

Raphael stared at him, his expression blank. With an unflinchingly rigid tone, he carelessly said, “One dead innocent person is better than a hundred dead kids that could’ve been saved.” 

Simon’s feet began to move without his consent. His head told him to just stay and talk it out, to be a mature adult and see Raphael’s point of view. But he couldn’t stop seeing the glossy picture of Clary’s dad and his own dad, cold on the concrete and the man with the beard in the courtroom who cried over his two daughters that he was leaving. 

If he didn’t leave now he’d do something embarrassing, like cry or puke. 

“You don't believe me, Corona?” Raphael called after him as he walked out of the room and toward the newly discovered front door. “Ask your cop friends. See if they really know what happens at that prison.” 

Simon walked out and slammed the door behind him. 

 

“God, Simon.” Luke pulled him into a hug the moment he walked through the office door. It kind of hurt, because Luke was pressing into his shoulder wound. But he let it happen because Luke sounded exasperated and frustrated, so really he was lucky that he was getting a hug rather than a lecture. 

“I’m fine.” Simon mumbled, the words muffled into Luke’s shoulder. 

Luke pulled away, still holding him by the arms and scanning him for injuries. Simon was fortunately insightful enough to thoroughly cover his bandaged shoulder with a sweatshirt and a jacket so Luke didn’t have to add another thing onto his list of concerns. 

“I know it was your arrow that called for help. But when I got there you were gone and there was blood everywhere and Christ, Simon, you could’ve _called_ to tell me--” 

“I know, I know.” Simon lowered Luke’s arms and moved to sit in the chair across from the desk. He didn’t like how serious the mood in the room had gotten. He preferred Luke to be teasing and cheerful.   
“I’m okay. I passed out after--a little injury. And then I woke up and I met...Nocturnal.”

Luke raised his eyebrows. “And something tells me you aren’t soulmates?”

Simon let out of a breath of air and covered his face with his hands. God, he was tired. When he closed his eyes be sorely wished that he wouldn’t have to open them again for another couple hours. 

“The guy is a dick.” Simon muttered. “But look, I want to make it work. He’s the only chance I’ve got for a partner that knows what they’re doing.” 

“Some would say that cops tend to know what they’re doing in regards to capturing dangerous criminals.” Luke pointed out, and, okay, he was right. Simon didn’t give the few good cops in the city enough credit. 

“It’s just--” Simon exhaled. No point in hiding the truth. “The same person who killed Clary’s dad killed my dad. And I’m thinking there’s a reason, a trend to that.”

Luke was silent. He never said much on the topic of the kids’ deceased fathers. They’d both been close friends of his. Clary’s dad had been a lawyer, someone who truthfully threw himself into every opportunity to distinguish right from wrong. 

Simon’s dad was a social worker. He did everything. He saved kids from bad homes, he infiltrated abusive workplaces. He wasn’t liked by everyone, that much was proved when Simon was given a black eye at school from a kid whose parent’s business had been shut down for not filing harassment claims properly. 

But Simon could piece it together. A lawyer, a social worker, a cop. All people fighting for good. 

“You’re family.” Simon breathed. “And I can’t--I can’t lose you too. Okay? So you need to stay away from this and stay out of harm’s way.” 

Luke smiled, a gentle signal that was only for Simon and Clary. “I’m supposed to be saying this to you.” 

Simon gave a shaky laugh and wiped at his eyes. It was monumentally difficult to talk about his dad, but he’d do it to ensure that he didn’t lose any more family. 

“I really think this guy can help if we could just get on the same page.” Simon continued, clearing his throat to shake the thickness of tears in his tone. “I need to prove to him that I can see his point of view.” 

Luke nodded. “How do you propose doing that?” 

“Is there any way I could find out about the Idris Penitentiary?” Simon asked hopefully. It was a long shot, he knew that, and it was confirmed by Luke’s face. It wasn’t the kind of place you could really ask for a tour of. 

“I have my concerns about that place just as much as you do, Simon. But they have a million laws and loopholes backing them up as to why they can let people out so often. Why they’d want to is beyond me--”

“It’s okay.” Simon assured him quickly. Clearly this was a sore spot. “I can find things out.”

“Simon.” Luke’s tone grew serious again and Simon suppressed a groan. “Do not go poking around there, alright?”

“I have to!” Simon protested. “Nocturnal is never going to listen to me if I don’t at least try to see his point of view.” 

“I’ll look into it.” Luke proposed. He put up a hand to halt Simon’s oncoming protests. “It’ll be perfectly safe. I’ll do an official report and everything. I have a lot of support in the precinct for this.”

Simon bit his lip. “Promise you’re going to be safe?”

Luke grinned. The dim light of the office, illuminated only by Luke’s desk lamp, made Simon feel safe and calm. He wished they could stay there forever, peaceful and out of harm. 

“I promise, Corona.” 

 

“Absolutely no regard for anyone beside himself,” Raphael fumed, stomping through a puddle that had collected on the sidewalk. It splashed and soaked him up to his ankles, making his suit stick even tighter to his skin. “He didn’t even thank us for fixing his stupid shoulder.” 

“Thank _me_.” Magnus’ voice in Raphael’s ear corrected. “You just held the ice water.” 

“I was still there.” Raphael snapped. “He came into our house--”

“My house.”

“--and used up our free medical treatment, told me I was evil, and left.” 

“Inconsiderate, yes.” Magnus agreed. “But I don’t think this is the last you’ll see of him. He lost it when he realized we took his mask off, Raph, he won’t just leave us alone with his secret identity. Also, duck.” 

Raphael’s body crouched to the ground before his mind even caught up to the instruction. A body flew through the air and swung right above him, giving him just enough time to see a ribbon of long, bright hair and a colourful costume. 

“It’s just the fairy lady again.” Raphael grumbled, reaching for his blade. He didn’t hesitate to throw it in her direction, hoping to get her arm or leg first. 

But the blade only clattered to the ground without contact. In under ten seconds a snake-like coil of something black and thin had shot out of the glittery false wings that the woman wore on her back. The wire connected to the closest rooftop and lifted her, almost gracefully, to the rooftop. 

“Try again tomorrow night, Nocturnal!” She called haughtily as her wings attached themselves to the next building over before he could even climb halfway up the wall. 

“Dios.” Raphael hissed. “Magnus. She has something new. It's a grappling hook or something, it gets her out quicker than I can move.” 

“A grappling hook?” Magnus sounded just as alarmed. The woman who called herself the Seelie Queen didn’t do much to put herself on Raphael’s top priorities. She robbed people downtown, which was villainous enough to take money from the poor. She didn’t kill though, not that Raphael knew of, so he didn’t chase her. 

Still, she’d never had anything that advanced before. Raphael needed to look into it. 

“Would it happen to look anything like this?” Magnus asked quietly. Raphael’s phone buzzed against his leg and he pulled it out of his holster to check the screen. 

Magnus had sent a news article with the caption **"Corona Swings In!”** that had a video of the familiar orange and red suit quickly moving from skyscraper to skyscraper, swinging from a thin thread the entire way.

“That’s it.” Raphael muttered. “Is he giving his tech to the enemies?” 

“Maybe he is the enemy.” Magnus said bitterly. “All this talk about how we’re doing the wrong thing? It’s because he doesn’t want us killing his little friends.” 

Raphael shoved the phone back into his pocket and swung a leg over his bike. He revved the engine and turned in the direction of the New York precinct. 

“I guess I’ll have to let the cops know that their favorite superhero is just a villain in disguise. I’ll make sure people recognize Simon Lewis without the mask.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things are getting #real 
> 
> chat with me on Tumblr @kindasimonish and leave me a comment if you liked it!


	4. Chapter 4

"I’m going to be honest with you, Simon.” Luke was using his serious voice and Simon straightened in his chair, alarm settling deep into his chest. The whole night had seemed slightly off, like it was just a strange dream that he had after falling asleep during conspiracy documentaries.

Alec had been distracted when they’d met that evening. His ideas were muddled and his hands had shaken when he was sketching out his designs. 

“Dude,” Simon had halted all talk of inventions abruptly with a hand on Alec’s shoulder. Alec hadn’t even tried to brush it off, even more proof that something was wrong. “Are you sure you’re fine? You seem really out of it.” 

“I’m just tired.” Alec sighed, and his weariness was tangible. Simon believed him. That amount of exhaustion couldn’t be fabricated, Simon knew from firsthand experience. 

“Is it something in particular?” Simon asked. “Like sometimes when the seasons change and I can’t decide if I should sleep with my blanket on or off it totally messes with my circadian rhythm--”

“Simon.” Alec breathed a sigh. “No. It’s--it’s Circle. They’re constantly giving me new projects and assignments. On one hand it’s great, you know, because having new tech all the time helps our team. But at the same time, I don’t understand why they’re so invested in what I make for you.”

“Tricky.” Simon had muttered. “Could you just tell them to pull back a little maybe?” 

Alec’s hands had gone to his face and he looked younger than Simon had ever perceived him. “I need the job. If I can keep impressing them, I could get scholarships. I could get out of New York, take my career to someplace--better. I can’t stay here my whole life, Simon, I can’t.”

“Okay, well,” Simon put up a placating hand to derail the anxiety train. “I’ll just have to operate without you.”

Alec’s jaw had dropped and his eyes sparked with defiance. “You’re firing me?”

“God. No.” Simon had shaken his head in disbelief. “I can’t go back to using bad tech, dude. I’m just saying you should take a few days off. You can get some time to sleep and just chill. I’ll be fine.” 

Alec had looked doubtful, which kind of hurt Simon’s pride. He had managed to be Corona for almost a year without Alec’s help. Then again, there were several near-death experiences to speak of. Alec had a few reasons to worry. 

“Seriously, Alec. It’ll be fine. You should focus on what’s important.” 

“Thank you.” Alec had said softly, his hands fiddling with the wires on his work table. “You know, I--I get that all of this has been hard for you. With Nocturnal and everything. But he’s wrong, okay? You aren't doing anything bad. You're kind of like, a hero. Or something.” 

Simon had hugged him, and Alec had immediately redacted his sentiment, groaning about how being nice to Simon was a mistake. 

It was right after he had left Alec’s that Luke had called him, telling him to hurry down to the precinct. 

“There’s something you’ll want to see.” Luke had said, and he’d refused to elaborate when Simon asked. 

Now he sat with his backpack hugged close to his chest and Luke’s eyes boring into him, clearly trying to gauge Simon’s state of mind. 

“Just tell me.” Simon insisted. 

Luke sighed and shifted in his chair. “This morning the body of Laura Fong was found by the docks. She was a journalist, apparently trying to break her way into the industry. She was promising. Only twenty-four, but people say she was headed for great things.”

Simon swallowed. “Why are you telling me this?” 

Luke pushed a file forward and Simon reached for it, his hand shaking. If he turned back now and just left, he could pretend that Laura Fong had died of natural causes. A heart attack, an aneurysm, a blood clot. But that wasn't the truth, and Simon knew it. 

“God.” Simon breathed, eyes glued to the photo in his hands. Laura Fong’s porcelain skin filled the page, and Simon could easily cover the worst part with his thumb and pretend it wasn’t there. 

But it was there. He slid his thumb down the glossy picture and revealed the harsh red mark on Laura Fong’s shoulder. 

A carved letter C mutilated her skin, and Simon snapped the file closed. 

“Simon, look,” Luke spoke with softness, coming around the desk to sit beside Simon. He put a hand on Simon’s trembling shoulder. “We’re going to find who’s doing this. This is the first lead we’ve had in awhile--”

“This isn’t a lead, Luke!” Simon all but shouted. “It’s a murder! It’s the same person who killed Clary’s dad and my dad and now they’ve killed this woman for no reason--” 

“There’s got to be a reason.” Luke insisted. “A pattern. And we’re going to figure it out.” 

A thought occurred to Simon and it made his stomach drop. He closed his eyes tight. “You said she was found this morning? When I was out?” 

“That’s when she was found, yes.” Luke hurried to add, “But we don’t know when she was killed. It could have been during Nocturnal’s shift.”

“It was during mine.” Simon sobbed. “I know it was. Nocturnal would have found her, he would have stopped this. He would’ve killed whoever did this to her and that would stop another kid from losing his dad.”

“Stop it.” Luke said firmly. “Simon, you didn’t kill Laura Fong, okay?”

“Yeah.” Simon muttered as he got to his feet, gripping his bag tight in his fists. “I just let her die.” 

“Simon, come on--” Luke tried to coax him back into his seat with a hand on his arm. Simon shook him off with fierce determination. He had a kind of energy swirling inside his chest, and the excess was beginning to seep from his fingertips without his consent. He needed to leave, because Luke didn’t deserve his anger. 

He hurried out of the office and charged down the hall. It was late and the only offices that were lit up were the ones of cops who had only just shown up for their night shifts. Simon headed for the door, ready to get drunk on the city air. 

He burst out to the stone steps and crumpled to his knees before he could get any further. Sobs were rising in him steadily and he choked on the effort to keep them down, so he gave up and let himself be overcome with misery. 

The city was so large that the lights around him seemed to swallow him up. He was just one person, and he couldn’t even keep himself safe. What had ever made him think he could protect an entire city? He’d failed his dad, he’d failed Clary’s dad, he’d failed Laura Fong. 

It was all pointless. He wasn’t doing anything. Some, like Nocturnal, might even argue that he was making things worse. 

He opened his eyes and saw a blurred point of light reflecting off something in his bag. He reached forward and pulled one of his arrows that had been haphazardly shoved inside. It blinked and hummed in his hand, the way Alec had designed it to. 

It was amazing, really, how talented Alec was. But he was being stifled and suffocated under the pressure of working for Circle and being Simon’s tech guy.  
Simon was using a brilliant inventor and wasting his talent. The arrows could make a difference in the hands of someone who could actually use them.

Anger swelled in Simon all over again, and he impulsively snapped the arrow in two. Then he snapped it in thirds, and fourths, and fifths until his hands ached and the pieces were scattered around him. 

He clutched the arrowhead in his hand until it made blood pool in his palm. 

A sudden force pulled Simon up, and the metal piece slipped through his fingers and scuttled to the ground. 

He was slammed into the brick wall behind him, and the breath he’d just regained from crying was knocked out of him all over again. He adjusted his hazy vision and, honestly, wasn’t even surprised to come face to face with the black hood. 

“You,” Nocturnal seethed, “are just the person I wanted to see.”

Simon just stared back, waiting.

“I knew you weren’t any good, _idiota._ I could tell. Magnus thought that maybe you were genuinely trying to help people, but now we both know better. I hope you know that your fancy technology doesn’t scare me one bit. I can still take down every single person that you helped, and everyone in the city will know that Simon Lewis is a traitor. A murderer.” 

The words wouldn’t process. Simon blinked, finally beginning to piece together a coherent idea of what Nocturnal was saying.

“What?” He said, sounding a lot less eloquent than he wanted.

Nocturnal’s grip loosened perceptibly, but he still refused to let go of Simon entirely. “I know what you did.”

“Well could you let _me_ know what I did?” Simon hissed. He pushed Nocturnal away with a hand on his chest and regained his balance. “I don’t know if you’re confused or crazy, but I didn’t help anyone with anything. I am entirely unhelpful.” 

Nocturnal looked down at his suit, where Simon’s hand had left a bloody print on the black material. 

“You’re bleeding.” Nocturnal murmured, looking between Simon and the blood stain. His eyes then trailed to the ground, where fragments of the destroyed arrow were still littered around their feet. “What did you _do?"_

Simon sniffed. “I’m having a bad night, okay?” 

Nocturnal hesitated. “So you really don’t know what I’m talking about?” 

“I don’t know and I really don’t care.” Simon sighed. He gathered his bag and the broken arrow bits and began to hurry down the steps, Nocturnal right behind him. “It really wouldn’t look good for me to be having a friendly chat with Nocturnal. A cop could walk out here any minute, and we’d both be dead.” 

Nocturnal scoffed. “I am not afraid of them.” 

__“Really?” Simon stopped in his tracks and turned around. “Then why do you hate them so much?”_ _

__“Fear and hate are not the same thing, little hero.” Nocturnal insisted. Simon turned and began to move again, but Nocturnal persisted. “Do not walk away from me. We need to talk.”_ _

__“We don’t!” Simon said._ _

__“If you didn’t give them the tech, it means your little helper did. We need to do something about that. Or are you going to ignore it, like you ignore the consequences of everything else you do?”_ _

__Simon stopped. If he were less mature and a bit more worked up, he’d probably swing at Nocturnal. Instead, he took a deep breath and grit his teeth._ _

__“Alec wouldn’t do that. He’s loyal and he’s a good person. A better person than both of us, probably. And you know what?” Simon yanked his hood out of his bag and shoved it into Nocturnal’s chest. “You’re right. I cause too much collateral damage. I’m a villain, really. Keep the hood. You can be Nocturnal and Corona. I’m done.”_ _

__“ _What? You’re _quitting?” Nocturnal hurried after him. “You can not be serious.”___ _

____“I really, really am.” Simon called back. “I’ll send the suit to you as soon as it’s dry cleaned, don’t worry.”_ _ _ _

____“You can’t just give up!” Nocturnal yelled. “Is that what your father would have wanted?”_ _ _ _

____This time, Simon was a lot less mature and a lot more worked up, so he swung. Nocturnal caught him by the wrist and knocked his feet from beneath him, making Simon slam to the concrete. Nocturnal had him pinned, but he still fought against his grip._ _ _ _

____“Do not,” Simon growled between breaths, “talk about him like you knew him.”_ _ _ _

____Nocturnal got close enough that Simon could see his eyes through his mask. He had little strands of golden in his dark brown irises. His lips were inches away from Simon’s when they formed the words “I did.”_ _ _ _

____“I thought I recognized the name Simon Lewis.” Nocturnal continued. He eased off Simon enough to let him sit up, and he backed off entirely when he seemed certain Simon wasn’t going to run. “I looked it up. Your father was a social service worker, right? He’s the one who took my father away. The one who saved my mother. My brothers. He saved me.”_ _ _ _

____This would have been nice to know a few days ago, Simon thought. Though his it was covered with a mask, Simon could see the pain evident on Nocturnal’s face. The breeze of late October rustled Nocturnal’s loose curls around his face and Simon stared, transfixed. He swore he could see a shimmer of tears behind the mask._ _ _ _

____“I use to think that no one would help us.” He said softly. “I thought no one cared about a lower class family with a drunkard father. And--and he wasn’t just doing his job. He actually cared about us. He cared about Mama and the babies.”_ _ _ _

____“He was great.” Simon breathed, to console himself and Nocturnal. “He really did care. About every single family he helped.”_ _ _ _

____“And he would have been proud of you.” Nocturnal insisted, with so much certainty in his voice that Simon clung to the words. “Even though sometimes you’re such an _idiota that I can’t stand it. Even though you love the cops. Even though you can’t save everyone all the time. You care about people, Corona.”__ _ _ _

_____He shoved the mask into Simon’s chest. “Do it for your dad.”_ _ _ _ _

_____Simon took the mask in his hands and rubbed the familiar fabric between his fingers. “I don’t want to do this by myself anymore. We need to be on the same side.”_ _ _ _ _

_____“Fine.” Nocturnal said, quickly. “But we aren’t going to do everything your way. We’re both going to make decisions.”_ _ _ _ _

_____“Deal.” Simon shook Nocturnal’s hand, and was lifted to his feet immediately after._ _ _ _ _

_____“This works out well, anyways.” Nocturnal said as they walked together toward the bike. “Magnus thinks your tech guy is cute.”_ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they finally don't hate each other !!! as always, talk with me on tumblr @kindasimonish ! it really makes my day and motivates me to write more when people leave messages on tumblr and thank you to everyone who's supported this story !!


	5. Chapter 5

"So like, I know I said you could have the week off. And you can! Totally, offer still stands.” Simon said, unable to keep himself from smiling with the phone pressed against his cheek while his eyes roamed the table in front of him. “But I think you should come see what I’m seeing.” 

“Simon,” Alec groaned hoarsely, because he’d definitely been sleeping when Simon had called, “I’m in bed right now. There's literally no force on this god forsaken planet that could make me get up--”

“Even meeting the tech god himself?” Simon hummed, and Alec made a noise like he had choked on his spit. 

“You--You mean Nocturnal’s partner?” 

“Oh yeah.” Simon couldn’t keep himself from beaming. The past three hours hadn’t exactly been easy, what with having to be scolded by Magnus for breaking perfectly good tech and hurting himself in the process. The image of Laura Fong’s scar was still vivid in his mind and the newfound knowledge of his dad’s involvement with Raphael’s life made him feel like absolute shit for his treatment of the guy thus far. 

So yeah, the breakdown was in the past but the night still wasn’t going great. Treating Alec to a surprise like meeting an icon made him feel a bit better. 

“There’s all sorts of shiny stuff here.” He continued, picking up an unidentifiable oval of metal that pulsed between his fingertips. “Not sure what it does. You probably will. He wants to talk to you, by the way. He says the arrows are impressive. Almost cried when he saw the one I broke--”

“You broke one of my arrows?” Alec hissed. 

“He thinks you’re cute, too!” Simon quickly added. “I mean, that’s only based on the blurry pictures of you on the news with only the lower half of your face visible. Imagine when he sees what a knockout you are with your entire face.” 

“Enough.” Alec stopped him before he could keep going. “Isabelle and Jace spend enough time trying to hook me up with guys, I don’t need you doing it too.” 

“You're not coming, then?” Simon asked. 

“Text me the address.” Alec muttered quickly before hanging up. Simon smirked triumphantly and sent the text, along with a heart emoji because he loved Alec just that much. 

He sat back in Magnus’ big leather chair and admired the scene in front of him. After Raphael had dragged him to the loft, he’d attempted to leave again to continue his nightly routine. Magnus had quickly put a stop to that by persuading him that they needed to spend time discussing their plans moving forward, pointing out that eventually one of them would have to sacrifice some shift time. 

He’d also hid the Nocturnal mask, so that was that. 

Magnus had floated off to shower, saying that he might as well take advantage of his break for a few minutes. Simon had been exploring the loft, taking in all the sights that he’d missed when he’d first been there. 

Raphael was on the couch, fast asleep. 

It was laughable how quickly he’d dozed off when the plan to take the night off was confirmed. His head was supported by two robust pillows and he’d neglected to take off his suit entirely, so he still looked a little deadly. But only a little. 

It was hard for anyone to look deadly when they had curls of hair falling in their face, which was completely relaxed and, in the light from the window, almost angelic.

“You shouldn't touch those things.” Magnus advised as he emerged from the bathroom in a gush of steam and lavender scent. “You never know. One of them could be a bomb.” 

“With how bloodthirsty you two are, I wouldn’t be surprised.” Simon muttered, pushing away from the desk and heading toward the kitchen. Magnus merely chuckled and seated himself at the bar, taking a swig of expensive-looking water before looking at Simon again. 

“Raphael isn’t bloodthirsty.” He said calmly. “Just looking for some justice. Just because it’s not how you do things doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”

Simon sighed, because all this character development that was being forced upon him in one night was giving him a headache. “I know. That’s why we’re going to talk things out. Discuss how to team up.”

“I love a good merger.” Magnus said brightly. “And your sidekick?” 

“Partner.” Simon corrected automatically, knowing Alec would somehow find out if Simon referred to him as his sidekick and deck him. “And he’s coming. Ready to see his entire face?”

“Please. You don’t think I’ve guessed that you’re working with Alec Lightwood?”

Simon choked on his fancy water, which was a shame because it was definitely higher quality than the tap stuff that he paid for. Magnus simply shrugged, completely casual about his guess as if it were the most elementary thing on earth. 

“He’s all anyone in this business talks about. The promising lead of the Circle Institute.” Magnus said the corporation’s name with a certain tone that made Simon curious. 

“You never got the chance to work at Circle?” He guessed, which elicited a bitter laugh from Magnus. 

“Oh, I got the chance. An offer with a full ride scholarship, too.” He had a shadow over his face, making Simon a little uncertain of if he should continue to pry or not. But he was unfailingly nosy, so of course he kept prying. 

“What happened?” 

“My evil ex-girlfriend,” Magnus said with contempt, “was seriously against my involvement with the company. She just didn’t want me to succeed, or be happy, or be independent from her I guess. She went over my head. Talked to the managers. Told them things.” 

“What sorts of things?” Simon asked, being sure to add a hasty, “If you don’t mind saying, of course.” 

“Well I got all dressed up for the interview. I had a resume and everything, it was the most professional I had ever been in my life. Raphael picked out the suit. And I got there, went through the entire thing. I was so sure that they were going to offer me the job, that I’d finally have enough to pay rent.” He swallowed dryly and took another sip of water. “And they said, ‘You’d be a great member to the team, Mr. Bane, but drug use is not tolerated.’”

Magnus didn’t look up, and Simon was kind of glad they weren’t making eye contact. He didn’t know what to say to someone who, minutes ago, was cheerful and bright but now looked like he was drowning in memories that he couldn’t get rid of. 

“Anyways, I told her I knew what she did. I mean she was the only one who would’ve told them something like that. She didn’t even deny it, she just threw me out. Even gave back the things I had bought her, which always confused me. Something about me getting that offer had changed the way she saw me, and suddenly she wanted nothing to do with me.” 

“Dude,” Simon breathed, inching forward just slightly, “I’m so sorry.” 

Magnus shrugged again and looked up finally. His eyes were dry. “Turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. Raphael’s mother, a saint, helped me with rent. I got closer with the Santiagos. Started making money again without the constant pressure of having to be at Camille’s beck and call. And I’ve been clean since the day she kicked me out.” 

“That’s great!” Simon said. “The last part. All the good stuff. Not all the bad stuff before that, that all kinda sucked. Not even kinda, just totally--” 

Magnus laughed and patted Simon’s shoulder, like a big brother would. “I like you. You’re certainly more talkative than Raphael.” 

Simon accepted this compliment, though he admired Raphael’s ability to shut up. It probably kept him from being swung at as much as Simon was. 

He glanced over at the couch again, where Raphael still slept soundly. Part of Simon was dying to talk to him now that they had a sort of truce. Every day of his life he ached to have someone who understood what it was like to do what he did. Alec was a helpful confidant, but even he didn’t completely grasp what it was like to be behind the mask.

Simon had so many questions for Raphael. Did he ever worry about his family? Was he scared of slipping up and ending up dead in some dirty alley? Did he watch the news and hang on every word that the reporters said about him?

Did he ever wish he could talk to Corona about all this?

There was a knock on the door and Simon sent a smirk in Magnus’ direction before padding off to answer. Alec hardly even acknowledged him, his eyes lingering over his shoulder to peek into the loft. 

“You look nice.” Simon chirped. Alec glared and all but pushed past him. 

“You must be Alec.” Magnus greeted, already extending a hand. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. You’re quite impressive.” 

Alec shook his hand enthusiastically and failed miserably at suppressing his wide, excited grin. “Thank you. Your work is amazing too, we actually use it as reference at Circle sometimes--” 

“Well. Circle is certainly familiar with me.” Magnus said abruptly, and Simon winced. He should’ve warned Alec not to mention the company. “But I didn’t just mean your work was impressive.” 

Alec’s face turned a very hilarious shade of red and Simon already felt a lot better than he had all night. He headed to the couch, where Raphael was already waking up and rubbing at his eyes, seemingly annoyed at the tech meeting that was loudly happening during his nap. 

“Hey.” Simon took a seat at the opposite end of the sectional and shot Raphael a smile. “How’s your vacation going so far?” 

Raphael actually laughed at that, which made Simon swell with pride. He may have just been tired and disoriented, but Simon took Raphael’s new ease as a sign that things would be easier between them now. 

“A whole hour of sleep.” Raphael murmured, unzipping his suit a little. “It’s rare.” 

“God, I know.” Simon already felt excitement bubbling up. Literally no one else understood how little sleep superheroes got. “How do you do it? Like, don’t you have to go to school and work and stuff during the day? I mean, when do you sleep?” 

Raphael grinned as he settled back against one of the pillows. “What do you think I do at school?” 

Simon laughed, shaking his head. He didn’t know what to ask next. He should’ve written it all down. 

“Can I ask _you_ something?” Raphael said hesitantly. Simon nodded eagerly. “What is your mask made out of? I tried to find one that could cover my entire face but wouldn’t restrict my breathing too much, but I couldn't ever get it right.”

Simon beamed. “Spandex coated in Gore-Tex. It makes it breathable, wind-proof, water-proof. My best friend Clary designed it, actually.”

Raphael arched an eyebrow. “Was she the one making your tech before Alec?” 

“Uh, yeah.” Simon sighed. “Alec is...a blessing.” 

“Apparently.” Raphael noted, looking over at the tech table where Magnus and Alec were tripping over themselves to compliment the other. Simon smiled, because Alec genuinely looked happy. He realized that his desire to talk to another hero was probably echoed in Alec, who likely wished he could talk to another person who had to keep a hero from dying. 

“So uh, I know you don’t want to talk about it much.” Raphael pulled his attention back. “But the case. We need to go over it. All of us.”

“Right.” Simon took a deep breath. “Of course.”

They ended up around Magnus’ kitchen table, each of them scanning over news articles about the previous C murders on Magnus’ abundance of tablets. Simon refrained, of course, because he knew enough. And he didn’t need to read articles that called his father a defenseless victim. 

“So,” Magnus cleared his throat, “I realize this is a sensitive subject for you, Simon, and just tell us if you need to stop at any time. Let’s start with any ideas you might have?” 

“Uh, well.” He closed his eyes briefly. He felt a sudden weight on his hand and glanced down to see that Raphael’s hand was over his under the table. Weighing him down with comfort. He looked up and Raphael’s eyes were encouraging, calming. Simon could do this. “My dad was in social services. Clary’s dad was a lawyer. And now Laura Fong, she was a journalist. I think they all were getting too close to figuring something out that, uh, “C” didn’t want them to find. If I can just figure out what Clary’s dad’s last case had in common with my dad’s last case and Laura Fong’s story, we’d have a lead.”

“So what was your dad’s last case?” Raphael asked, voice soft. 

Simon bit his lip. “I don’t know. I don’t think it had actually started yet, just something that was being considered. He had dozens of possible case files, so we’d have to look through them all. Same with Clary’s dad and Fong. Then we’d have to find the one common denominator.”

“How do we do it?” Alec pressed. 

“We can’t.” Simon said. “Police business, now. It’s confidential. You have no idea how many times I’ve asked Luke.” 

“So we steal them, then.” Raphael decided. His voice held so much surety that Simon nodded at first before processing what he’d said. He looked up at him, eyes wide.

“We can’t just steal them! There’s probably a reason Luke couldn't give them to me. It could put Luke in danger if we take them.” 

“The reason was probably him trying to spare your feelings.” Raphael countered. He wasn’t saying it with any malice or unpleasantry, but something about it made Simon look away from him. “He didn’t want a kid poking around in a case.” 

“We can’t assume that.” Simon insisted. “There’s a way to figure it out without putting Luke at risk, I’m sure of that.” 

“Yes, but it could take longer.” Raphael’s voice was beginning to sound tight, like pulled coils right before something snapped. “And we don’t have time. The longer we wait, the more people die.” 

His hand wasn’t on Simon’s anymore. It was clenched by his side. 

“Okay, let’s relax.” Magnus suggested. His soothing voice did little to relieve the clenched panic in Simon’s chest. The last thing he wanted was for more people to die because of him, obviously. But Luke wasn’t the kind to keep things from him for no reason. He didn’t want to betray him for no reason, didn’t want to cause a domino effect that could end up getting Luke hurt. 

“Simon, look at me.” Alec tugged on his shirt sleeve. Simon forced himself to look up, and Alec looked no different than he normally did. He wasn’t angry like Raphael or sympathetic like Magnus. He was just Alec, calm and composed. It was like they were just working on tech at his room, just the two of them. “You know he’s right. We have to take them. Even if it isn’t easy, you know Raphael is right.” 

Simon exhaled slowly. He trusted Alec. Alec saw things the same way he did, and if Alec thought it was the right way to go, they were going to go that way. He was outnumbered. “Okay. I’ll go in the morning.” 

“I’ll go with you.” Raphael said, his voice back to being gentle. Now that he’d gotten his way, of course. “You can stay here tonight. We’ll go first thing.” 

“Fine.” Simon muttered, getting up and pushing his chair back with unnecessary force. He headed straight for the guest room, ignoring the way they were all murmuring about him at the table. He’d been perfectly fine until Raphael had brought up the idea of someone else dying, and now his vision was full of flashing red C’s and police files. 

He threw himself down on the unfamiliar bed and stayed there awhile with his face pressed into the pillow until the door opened. Someone shuffled inside and sat down on the side of the bed, making the mattress dip just slightly. 

“I’m sorry.” Raphael said lowly. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. Or blame you for anything.” 

Simon didn’t say anything, so Raphael took a breath and continued. He sounded like he was struggling which, good. Let him struggle a bit. 

“I know we’re going to work things out equally. I just really think this is the best way to go. But I’m not going to let your friend get hurt, alright? I promise. I know what he means to you.” 

Alright, that was pretty good. Simon sat up, meeting Raphael’s eyes. “I’m sorry I freaked out. It’s not easy to, like, relive some of this.”

“Of course.” Raphael nodded. “It’s scary. But to be honest, it’s really nice to have you now. Because it’s like, when we go tomorrow I won’t be by myself. For the first time I’ll have someone else with me.” 

Simon couldn’t help but smile. So Raphael did have the same wish for someone else who understood. Even if they didn’t entirely agree, it was better than being alone. Anything was better than being alone. 

“I have another question.” Simon said before he could stop himself, and Raphael cocked his head to the side in a silent signal to ask. Simon’s pulse was rocketing at a probably unhealthy rate and he really didn’t know what was compelling him to do this other than the sudden inability to look anywhere besides Raphael’s lips. If he thought about it, though, Raphael had proven that he was entirely _good_. He wanted to prevent death, to prevent theft, to protect people who had no protection otherwise. He apologized when someone was hurt in the process of doing good.

So that probably had something to do with Simon blurting out, “Can I kiss you?” 

And Simon had no idea why Raphael nodded or allowed Simon to pull him closer by his Nocturnal suit, but he did. 

Simon had thought about Nocturnal every day for months. What his tech was made out of, what it felt like to ride his bike, where he got his badass scythe thing. He’d never wondered what it would be like to kiss him. 

As it turns out, it was nice. 

 

“I hope he’s okay.” Alec murmured, casting another glance down the hall. Simon had had an increasingly sick look on his face for the entirety of the conversation and Alec, despite himself, was worried. When he’d first started working with Corona, Alec hadn’t expected to actually care about him. He’d just wanted to do his part to keep the city safe.

But now Simon spent every day with him, babbled about the Avengers, annoyed Alec enough that he’d earned honorary sibling status. And when he stopped babbling about the Avengers because he was too upset about a certain jerk rival kicking him down, Alec found himself wanting to protect Simon the way he protected Jace and Isabelle and Max.

“Raphael is good at apologies.” Magnus said with a slight smile. “Sometimes I want to kick his teeth in but I can never seem to stay mad.” 

Alec looked up from the news article he’d been staring at, which had a picture of a younger Simon and a woman that Alec assumed was his mother. The whole thing was too sad for him, so he closed the tablet entirely. 

Magnus was lounging, entirely comfortable in a practical stranger’s presence, on his couch. His pajama top was riding up just a bit and revealing a strip of skin that Alec forced himself not to look at. He was not going to drool over his professional role model. 

Besides, he had more important things to focus on. 

“Listen,” Alec said in a serious voice that made Magnus look up, “I’m really glad we met now because I have something I seriously need your help with.” 

“I’d use this as an opportunity to flirt with you, but you sound serious.” Magnus noted, pulling himself into a sitting position. “Go ahead.” 

“Simon told me that Raphael accused us of giving our tech to the Seelie Queen.” The sheepish expression that crossed Magnus’ face was proof that he’d been guilty of the same assumption. “But I swear to you, I did not do that. And recently Circle has been assigning me more and more tasks and they’ve been asking for blueprints of my designs, which they don’t do to like, anyone else in the department.”

“They’re stealing your stuff?” Magnus guessed.

“And,” Alec opened the tablet again and tapped in a headline. He shoved it forward and let Magnus look at the articled titled **“Lone Wolf Becomes Fourth Criminal Seen Using Corona’s Miracle String”** which Magnus read with wide eyes, “they’re giving it to villains.” 

“Shit.” Magnus whispered, looking back up. “Are you sure about this?”

“I’m sure.” Alec confirmed. “I need your help. Tomorrow, Circle is doing an open demonstration of their new chem lab. Anyone can come. You need to go and find me there. I can use my access card to get into one of the file rooms, which has all of the information about where our tech is sent.”

Magnus was silent. Alec had spent a long time on this plan, and he’d figured he was going to have to bring Simon with him until this perfectly timed meeting with a local expert. But Magnus wasn’t responding and he looked fairly hesitant, so Alec was slowly resigning himself to the fact that he may indeed have to settle with Simon. 

“I don’t have a good history with Circle.” Magnus finally admitted. “And someone works there who I would really rather not have a run-in with.”

“I understand.” Alec said, because he did. “I can ask Simon--” 

“But I can do it.” Magnus said hastily. He gave a weak smile. “It would be nice to be the hero for once.” 

“I’m not guaranteeing it’ll be safe.” Alec warned. “You’ll be keeping watch, if that’s alright. You could get caught. We both could. And I don’t know what they do to people who get caught doing things like that.” 

Magnus smirked at that, looking like himself again. All uncertainty was gone. “I wouldn’t worry about that, pumpkin. I can do more than build things.” 

“Good.” Alec smiled back. “So can I.”

 

It was a stroke of pure luck that Luke’s office was empty. It was also a stroke of pure luck that Raphael, aside from being a great kisser, was also great at picking locks. 

“Please hurry.” Simon begged, anxiously looking down the hall for any incoming cops. “I don’t know how long it takes to pick locks, because I’ve never done it, but in the movies it usually doesn’t take this long and--”

“Simon,” Raphael whispered, “shut up.”

With a click they were in. Simon hurried inside and closed the door behind them. It felt weird to be in Luke’s office without him and Simon was filled with guilt for the millionth time over what they were doing. Raphael must have noticed the look on his face because he held his hand tight and nodded, trying to convey that this was necessary. Which Simon knew, he just didn’t like it. 

“Where would they be?” Raphael asked, moving toward the desk. 

“I don’t know.” Simon murmured, feeling frantic as he opened drawers and rifled through files. He hadn’t looked at the pictures of his dad in years and he could only pray that Raphael found them before he did. 

God heard him. Raphael triumphantly raised the folders after ten minutes of quiet searching and Simon breathed a sigh of relief. Raphael stuffed them in his bag and took Simon’s hand almost automatically, dragging him out of the office. 

“Relax.” Raphael said with a smile as they moved down the hall. “It’s fine. No one saw us and Luke will never know. Plus, it was kind of fun.”

Simon was too busy admiring the giddy grin on Raphael’s face to watch where he was going, leading to a collision with Captain Vargas. She was a tall woman who had always scared Simon with her heels and lipstick and, well, the gun that was always in its holster around her hip. 

“Simon!” She greeted him with a friendly hand on his shoulder. “I haven’t seen you in ages, kiddo. What are you doing here?” 

“I was uh, coming to visit Luke.” Simon explained, tightening his grip on Raphael’s hand without meaning to. “But I forgot it was his day off, I guess.” 

Her eyebrows arched. “It’s not his day off, actually.” 

Simon felt his blood go cold. 

“Did he call in sick or something?” He asked, trying not to sound too hysterical. 

“Honestly, kid.” Vargas shook her head. “I haven’t heard from him since he went to do that inspection on the prison last night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;)
> 
> (She's not going to show up, but that mention of the Lone Wolf was like a nod to Maia, who would totally be a kickass super villain that steals from corrupt men)
> 
> ((Sorry this update took forever! Thanks to everyone who sticks with this story, you mean the world to me <3 as always you can talk to me on tumblr @kindasimonish ))


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